Milford area students aspiring for military academies face admissions gauntlet

Clay Shropshire’s journey to the Army started in Peru, when a poor man who spoke a different language changed the Franklin resident's life with a pat on the shoulder.

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Posted Mar. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 17, 2013 at 5:04 PM

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Posted Mar. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 17, 2013 at 5:04 PM

» Social News

Clay Shropshire’s journey to the Army started in Peru, when a poor man who spoke a different language changed the Franklin resident's life with a pat on the shoulder.

For Tim McLaughlin of Millville, the dream of being a military officer surfaced in middle school and has been a lifelong goal.

Ken Zarrilli of Southborough knew he belonged at West Point the moment he saw it, describing the sight of the determined cadets running up its storied hills as one of the most profound moments of his life.

Many of the men and women who will someday lead the nation’s military are on pins and needles this month, as they wait to learn whether they will be accepted to institutions whose education can be worth close to a half-million dollars.

As they wait for the letter that could change their lives, the academies themselves are constantly changing, working to update their curriculum to meet the ever-expanding demands of modern warfare.

And with interest in the academies rising and the country winding down its actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, this year’s crop is facing some of the stiffest competition yet.

A monumental task

As a general rule of thumb, nearly nine out of 10 students who apply for one of the major three service academies will be turned down.

Applicants to the big three - U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy - and a fourth, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, must not only score well in class and on standardized tests, but must have their application endorsed by a U.S. representative or senator.

Admissions officers are now looking for students who are challenging themselves with AP math or science courses, said Rocco DiRico, deputy district director for U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-5th. A 4.0 GPA with "normal" classes is no longer enough.

Another vital component is the ability to handle a lot at once, DiRico said, since students will need to balance challenging academic classes with grueling workouts.

U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-3rd, said she also looks for the ultimate intangible: a clear expression to her staff of a sense of duty to the nation.

"That’s the bottom line," she said. "It’s about service to our country."

In 2012, the Naval Academy was the choosiest school, admitting just 1,394 of 20,601 applicants, or 6.8 percent. West Point admitted 1,193 of its 15,171 applicants – 7.9 percent – while of the 12,274 applications the Air Force received, 1,045 – 8.5 percent – accepted an appointment.

Applications for the Naval Academy have nearly doubled in the last five years, jumping from 10,960 in 2008 to the 20,601 last year.

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But Navy spokeswoman Colleen Roy said the school hasn’t increased its admission rate much from year-to-year, and generally seeks to offer appointments to about 1,400 students regardless.

West Point, in West Point, N.Y., has also seen its admission percentage go down recently. It lets in about 11 percent on average, said spokesman Francis J. DeMaro Jr., but the rates have been 7.9 and 9 percent the last two years, respectively.

"We are slowly becoming even more competitive because the number of applicants is going up and the number of admitted is being held," DeMaro said.

The academy can only have 4,400 cadets in the school at any one time by law, he said.

"During the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, we were able to slightly increase our admittance and commissioning numbers to meet demands of the troop surge," he said, but that’s no longer the case.

Inspired to serve

Many of those accepted to the academies have already received notice, though some of the final slots will continue to be filled over the next few weeks.

Shropshire has already been accepted to West Point. The Franklin High School senior said he wants to join the military so he can help people.

"It’s one of those things that’s hard to explain, but I’ve always had the inner desire to serve," said Shropshire, 18.

Shropshire said his life changed during a service trip to Peru he went on through an organization that partnered with his high school.

Shropshire said he’d always been more on the quiet side, but took on a leadership role helping people in a poor remote village.

"One of the last nights, one of the village elders came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder," Shropshire said. "I could tell how grateful he was.

"I knew that I was doing the right thing, and that I wanted to continue helping people."

Shropshire said he went home and decided to apply to West Point.

"I realized if I had the resources of the U.S. Army behind, me, I’d be able to do so much (more) good," said Shropshire, who was nominated to the academy by former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.

The appointment means a lot to Shropshire and his family. He and his sister are the first generation to go to college, and Shropshire said his grandfather, a Vietnam veteran who lives down South, was "floored.

"I mailed him an insignia I got at the (West Point) store," Shropshire said. "He said he put it in a display case."

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Shropshire said he hopes to focus on technology while in the Academy. The government will be glad.

Evolving curriculum

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math initiative (STEM) championed throughout the chain of modern education also plays a central role in service academies.

Of the 23 majors offered at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., 17 are in STEM disciplines, said Roy. In order to meet national security and Navy service guidelines, the academy now strives to graduate 65 percent of each class with a technical major, she said.

In December 2009, the Naval Academy launched the Center for Cyber Security Studies. Beginning with the class of 2015, the Navy added two cyber courses to the midshipmen’s core curriculum – mandatory courses that must be taken while at the academy.

At the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., the core curriculum is so heavy on the sciences that all graduates earn a Bachelor of Science, said spokesman John Van Winkle.

The school operates three airfields, Van Winkle said. One features a program to train some cadets to fly remotely piloted aircrafts, or drones.

The academy is focusing more and more on space, Van Winkle said, as there are currently two cadet-built and designed satellites orbiting the earth and two more being built.

The Air Force has admitted the highest percentage of applicants over the last decade, with as many as 15 percent of applicants becoming cadets in 2008. Van Winkle said it’s no surprise so many high-quality candidates are drawn to the school.

"We’re offering a fully-paid education at one of the nation's top undergrad engineering schools, with 100 percent job placement upon graduation, in a variety of career fields, to include engineering, science and aviation," he said.

The National Science Foundation ranked the Air Force Academy as the number one undergraduate research institution in the country in 2011, Van Winkle said.

The government is investing $387,000 in each Air Force cadet over the course of his or her 4-year education, Van Winkle said.

The total West Point education for one cadet costs the government about $443,000, DeMaro said. Roy said the Navy estimates its 4-year cost at about $181,000 per midshipman.

As a return on its investment, the government requires students - who all graduate as officers - to serve five years of active duty and generally three years of reserve duty after senior year.

The long wait

Shropshire is spending a lot of time working out to prepare for the rigors of the grueling "plebe" freshman training camp.

Page 4 of 4 - Others are getting a lot of exercise running to their mailboxes.

"I still have a little bit of hope," said Matthew Nicholson of Plainville, who is still hoping his acceptance letter will come.

Both U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. John Kerry nominated the King Philip Regional High School senior for West Point.

If he doesn’t get in, Nicholson said he plans to enroll in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He’s applied to a number of top colleges, and already been accepted to WPI.

"I want to do something different than living an average life," he said. "I want to do something I’d be proud doing."

Tim McLaughlin of Millville wasn’t accepted to West Point last year, a major disappointment for a young man who’d been interested in the academy since middle school.

But McLaughlin decided to enter ROTC and enroll in Stonehill College. This year, after reapplying, he’s getting ready for summer training at West Point.

"I will be a freshman again," McLaughlin said, but he’s not complaining. "It’s just unbelievable that my dream is finally coming true."

Algonquin Regional High School Senior Ken Zarrilli is still hopeful he'll be admitted to West Point.

"There’s this whole aura, almost a euphoria, when you’re there (at West Point)," he said. "You get almost this spiritual uplifting."

Former Algonquin Tomahawk Dan Polanowicz, now a sophomore at West Point, said while the school’s steep hills are uplifting, they’re also exhausting.

"I was not prepared by the amount of running we did (in summer camp)," said Polanowicz, son of recently named Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz, also a West Point grad.

"Some of the things were hard," Dan Polanowicz said of training. "Getting tear gassed was less than fun."

Polanowicz can now run two miles in just over 13 minutes – two minutes faster than his time as a runner for Algonquin track.

When asked what recommendation he had for area kids getting ready for West Point, Polanowicz didn’t hesitate.

"I’d tell them what I tell every possible cadet," he said. "Start running."